OLD TESTAMENT
“Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.” Exodus 23:16 (NIV)
Traditionally, there was a celebration at the beginning of the harvest in the Old Testament referred to as the Feast of Firstfruits. 50 days after this feast would be the Feast of Harvest, Feast of Weeks or Festival of Ingathering (different names for the same date). Later, this would be called the Day of Pentecost in the New Testament.
This observance in the Old Testament detailed the harvest process for the Jews. The celebration began in May or June, depending on when the crops were ready for harvesting. There are a number of Old Testament scriptures that tell believers to thank the Lord for the harvest, pray and make offerings.
NEW TESTAMENT
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:1-4 (NIV)
More than 350 years later, in Acts 2, the apostles gathered in a room to celebrate the Feast of Harvests (Pentecost) and the Holy Spirit descended upon them. Infused with a fresh and deeper understanding of the significance of Christ, Peter was moved to speak to a large crowd and 3,000 were saved that day!
In the absence of God (Jesus) in the flesh, the miracle of the Holy Spirit would be the companion and helper for the believer. This fulfilled the prophesy in the Old Testament from the book of Joel, written more than 350 years earlier.
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” Joel 2:28-29 (NIV)
The Holy Spirit is clear evidence that God is not a distant being and Jesus did not abandon us. Each of us has the Holy Spirit available at all times to guide and direct us based on how committed we are to include Him in our daily lives. The Holy Spirit is one-third of the trilogy – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the necessary gift Jesus sent His people to comfort and support them
Thank you, Lord, for the Holy Spirit. Let us all be encouraged to act as Peter did when he preached and led 3,000 to salvation.